Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic | DAZN - 29 August 2026

[Ruthless-RKO]

Constantin Ursu starts to make money, waves at welterweight

By the time Constantin Ursu steps through the ropes at London’s 02 Arena on Saturday night, in the latest significant moment of his remarkable career, it will have been six months and one day since he made history in Derby.

That night, February 28 at Vaillant Live Arena, Ursu became the first Moldova-born British champion when he clearly outpointed once-beaten Owen Cooper in their clash for the vacant welterweight title.

Before the fight, Ursu had told The Ring about his journey from Chisinau to that opportunity in Derby. And the southpaw seized it with both hands, producing one of the best performances of his career on his night in the “shop window” on DAZN. So how did he celebrate such a momentous victory?

“Celebrate?” he asks, dumfounded. “For what? I didn’t celebrate anything. Why would I? I think I had a McDonalds afterwards, that’s about it. We went back to Plymouth, and we spoke about the next fight. Nothing changed.”

It was not that Ursu was not pleased with his performance and the victory that it secured, but rather that he only ever saw it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Indeed, within a few days, Ursu was back in London to sign a promotional contract with allegedly’s Queensberry Promotions, which had been behind the event headlined by his victory over Cooper.

Not only did that move provide Ursu with a solid plan for the next couple of years but also meant, for the first time ever, he actually made some money from the sport.

“I signed a three-fight deal,” Ursu says. “Which is good. The feeling was good for me. But it was strange, because in the back of my head I thought I’d never get paid for fighting in my life. I’d had 14 fights before Cooper, and I earned zero pounds.

“But then, when I was given some money, it felt awkward for me, like it wasn’t real. Almost as if I was cheating. I looked at the money in my bank account and asked, ‘Am I allowed to touch this?’ I asked if I spend this money, will anyone say anything about it? They tell me, ‘Yes, it’s yours.’

“It’s good because now I can just focus on getting better. Before, every penny I made I would invest in boxing. If we make any money, we invested it all into boxing.”

Finally that initial outlay is starting to pay dividends for Ursu and long-time coach Marlee Dean, who have grafted for years under the radar in Plymouth.

On Saturday night, he will face fellow southpaw Ben Vaughan at 02 Arena in the first defense of his British title and third of his Commonwealth strap on the undercard of the event headlined by Moses Itauma against Filip Hrgovic.

Ursu and Dean usually spend much of training camp driving to and from London for sparring, but they went even further afield this time, with much of their preparation done in Thailand.

“It has been very good,” says Ursu, who speaks to The Ring on his penultimate day in the country. “Today I did 12 rounds of sparring with two different opponents, 30 seconds rest, then after that sprints, and all done in the heat. It has been a hard camp, but I don't even feel like I'm in a training camp. It feels like a holiday.

“Tyson Fury has been training over here, and I can understand why. I didn’t see him this time, but actually we have been training with his trainer Sifu [McInnes]. When he saw me he said, ‘Wow, you will become world champion’. He said he phoned allegedly and told him that. He thinks I could smash light heavyweights. He says I have the power, skills and brain to do so. He even compared me to Thomas Hearns.

“These are good compliments, and I cant wait to prove him right.”

[keithmoonhangover]

Really looking forward to this fight. What time are we thinking for the main event ring walk?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Really looking forward to this fight. What time are we thinking for the main event ring walk?

probably half 10 to 11 pm

[tony1234]

Really looking forward to this fight. What time are we thinking for the main event ring walk?

probably half 10 to 11 pm

Shame it's not nearer 10pm, everywhere I look there are big posters on the buses here advertising the fight. They are certainly pushing this one

[Ruthless-RKO]

Really looking forward to this fight. What time are we thinking for the main event ring walk?

probably half 10 to 11 pm

Shame it's not nearer 10pm, everywhere I look there are big posters on the buses here advertising the fight. They are certainly pushing this one

I'm seeing them on buses as well

[keithmoonhangover]

probably half 10 to 11 pm

Shame it's not nearer 10pm, everywhere I look there are big posters on the buses here advertising the fight. They are certainly pushing this one

I'm seeing them on buses as well

It ain't a sell out, that's for sure. I wonder if Moses will cross over into the mainstream? If he's the second coming, he should. Maybe he needs to tell everyone he's going to eat their children.

[jameswilson]

Yeah he will need to come up with something new.

We’ve had ‘ducking and diving Harry.’
We’ve had ‘Kitchener Waterloo big up!’
We’ve had ‘Mr Kiplings Bakewell slices. Love them.’
We’ve had whatever David Haye’s thing was.
We’ve had ‘stay humble stay hungry.’
We’ve had ‘Listen. Dosser.’


I mean what is there left?

[JamesPhilips]

Putting these can crushers with padded records up against each other are like freakshow fights and I'm all for it.

Hysa actually has some skill from the quick look I had on YT. Although he’s 41. Marmo is very novice like and basic but has a half decent punch.

I expect Hysa to win unless he gets tagged by a wild haymaker

[CaptainSpacerod]

Shame it's not nearer 10pm, everywhere I look there are big posters on the buses here advertising the fight. They are certainly pushing this one

I'm seeing them on buses as well

It ain't a sell out, that's for sure. I wonder if Moses will cross over into the mainstream? If he's the second coming, he should. Maybe he needs to tell everyone he's going to eat their children.

Marrying the modern equivalent of Robin Givens would help. Our celeb obsessed culture would lap up news of a HW champ paired up with a singer / actress. It’d transform his PPV appeal.

[KiwiRider]

Yeah he will need to come up with something new.

We’ve had ‘ducking and diving Harry.’
We’ve had ‘Kitchener Waterloo big up!’
We’ve had ‘Mr Kiplings Bakewell slices. Love them.’
We’ve had whatever David Haye’s thing was.
We’ve had ‘stay humble stay hungry.’
We’ve had ‘Listen. Dosser.’


I mean what is there left?

Whatever it is, if anything, Moses won't have thought of it. It will be PR team generated. Moses, while a likable enough guy, doesn't have the pizzaz to have any catch phrases. He's one of those guys who does his best showmanship in the ring- I just wish he was in the ring more often.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hrgovic: I'm near the end if I lose to Itauma

Filip Hrgovic believes the whole world has already written him off ahead of his August 29 world heavyweight title clash with red-hot favorite Moses Itauma.

The Croatian faces Itauma for the IBF title at London’s O2 Arena live on DAZN Pay-Per-View later this month in what will be his fifth straight fight against a British opponent.

However, for the first time in that run, Hrgovic (20-1, 15 KOs) will enter the ring as the underdog with most bookmakers pricing him as long as 7/1 (+700). And, while the 34-year-old cares little for odds, he does admit he feels no pressure as a result of that newfound status.

“If I lose, the whole world has already written me off anyway,” Hrgovic said. “Everyone expects him to win so I don't have a lot to lose.

“If I lose, people expected that anyway.”

It is an honest evaluation of the situation from a man who rarely pulls his punches during interviews. Although he sits at No. 5 in The Ring’s heavyweight rankings, one place above his opponent, Hrgovic knows that Itauma had been anointed a future world heavyweight king long before the IBF decided to sanction this clash for their vacant belt.

Whoever wins the title in London is contractually obliged to face Frank Sanchez, the IBF's No. 1, in their first defense but Hrgovic also revealed his plans should he lose.

“I have a comeback fight in my contract,” he said. “So it's near the end for me if I lose.

“I'm already 20 years in boxing but I still feel good and I still have the desire for training, for sparring, for running.

“And I think I'm the best I’ve ever been and I feel that I will beat him. But if I lose it's definitely some kind of sign for me near the end.

“So I'll probably have some sort of comeback fight and we'll see. But, you know, I'm not going to because I believe I'll beat him.”

Like Itauma, August 29 will be Hrgovic’s first attempt to win the world heavyweight title in the 22nd outing of his career. The only defeat came in June 2024 when he was stopped on cuts by Daniel Dubois but he has rebuilt steadily since then.

Itauma, the 14-0 heavyweight prodigy, has his whole career ahead of him at the age of 21 but, in contrast, Hrgovic feels hardened by the brutal business of boxing.

“It's a tough game,” he said. “It's totally different. A lot of people get lost in that boxing business, with promoters, with managers, with contracts, with training differently and with the toughness of this sport.

“It's tough. It's not even a sport. It's like a war. It's like a battle. So, it's tough and I’ve endured everything but I'm still here now in a great position at 34. I'm top 5 in the world and having one of the biggest fights in the division right now.

“So, I'm proud of myself, that's it. And I believe I will beat this guy.”

[forcefraser]

Hrgovic is a massive step up. His only loss is to Dubois on cuts (butts) and a poor gas tank.

If he comes in shape then he could seriously cause big problems

Great fight this, can't wait for it

[MightyWarrior]

Hirgovic is dangerous as he’s got nothing to lose here, playing with house money. We know he can take a punch. Can Moses? I don’t think he’s ever been hit properly has he? We didn’t know if Big Frank could take a punch until jumbo Cummings hit him, and then we found out he couldn’t. Or not as well as we were all hoping.

We knew Richard Torrez was a bit vulnerable as we’d seen it in the amateurs, but I don’t think anyone’s seen much of Moses as an amateur

I’m guessing he does hold a pretty good punch, but that might be more hope than anything else

[forcefraser]

I'm thinking if Hrgovic can navigate the first few rounds and avoid a British stoppage it could get interesting

If he doesn't stand off but leans on Moses and give him no distance he could out maul him and tire him out

We haven't seen Moses dragged into anything like an attritional scrap, it's all been at distance where he can use his speed.

Moses does hang his chin out when he throws and backs off in straight lines with his head high. Big Phil could catch him on the way out.

Really hope this fight goes deep so we can get a proper look at Moses in a war

[Ruthless-RKO]

seen people compare this to AJ-Martin.

I mean it's nowhere near. Hrgovic is 10x the boxer Martin was.

[joshj909]

seen people compare this to AJ-Martin.

I mean it's nowhere near. Hrgovic is 10x the boxer Martin was.

This is nothing of the sort. Hrgovic is limited but he's a legit top 10-15 opponent.and he's proven that. Based on skill and even legitimate achievements in the ring, Martin was probably fringe top 25 at best.

[TBA]

Ref will step in after Hrgovic is staggered with a shot.

Little chance referee will actually allow Hrgovic the opportunity to recover despite his granite chin. Not with the body language he showed against Dubs and Zhang. Gives an easy out for the A-side.

[unknownman79]

We all know this is going to be a few fast punches in a corner and it gets called off early.

[dookus]

Hrgovic brought up the issue of Itauma's chin never having been checked in their face-off interview, and I found Itauma's reaction interesting - he kept insisting that the best chin is the one that doesn't get hit (or something like that). I don't know what that says about his mentality or experience of taking big shots, but it's the only time I've seen him look less than serenely confident

[tony1234]

probably half 10 to 11 pm

Shame it's not nearer 10pm, everywhere I look there are big posters on the buses here advertising the fight. They are certainly pushing this one

I'm seeing them on buses as well

Problem is people will look at the bus and say who ?. He's got no public profile, if this was on ITV or even SKY it wouldn't need posters on buses to sell tickets or PPV's

[rd350lc]

We all know this is going to be a few fast punches in a corner and it gets called off early.

Yup and Hrg is slow as treacle

[Finkel]

Based in Japan, and a bit disappointed this one is on DAZN PPV at 3am onward. Can't understand the price they have set it at either, especially when the headline bout is for a vacant title between two guys who are yet to trouble the top 5 of the division. They aren't even the actual #1 and #2 for the IBF, ffs. Seems a bit of a piss take putting this on PPV

I can see why they are having to stick it on the side of a bus - I can't see it doing well out here

[golden_labrador]

Ref will step in after Hrgovic is staggered with a shot.

Little chance referee will actually allow Hrgovic the opportunity to recover despite his granite chin. Not with the body language he showed against Dubs and Zhang. Gives an easy out for the A-side.

Hrg seems resentfully stuck being a boxer because he was maybe pushed to do it as a kid, is pretty good at it and it earns him very good money. he doesn't seem to love it though and really doesn't like being hit (despite the granite chin). I always wonder if he's going to go Golota/McCall, so yeah early (but bad) stoppage is likely Saturday

[Kilburn]

We may all find out a lot more about Moses’ chin at some stage, I’m just not sure it’s going to be against Hrgovic.

The real interest for me is if a stubborn, strong lump like Hrg can take the fight into the second half.

[MightyWarrior]

Hrgovic couldn't miss triple D in the first round with the right hand, he was throwing uppercuts too, which I don't think he'll be wanting to try Saturday night. He doesn't look a big puncher, but solid enough.

I'm a bit worried that they're giving the sole job to Ben Davidson, whose catastrophic performance in the Wardley fight will surely have ended Fabio as a top level fighter.